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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28369323">What Use is The Present? (Lorgar Heresy 50k)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velliacrum/pseuds/Velliacrum'>Velliacrum</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Lorgar Heresy (Alternate Heresy) [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Warhammer 40.000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Future, Bittersweet, Body Horror, Christian Holidays, Far Future, Gen, Not Beta Read, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:21:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28369323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velliacrum/pseuds/Velliacrum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>My Lorgar Heresy "Christmas Special." An excerpt from the future that does not yet exist. An immortal man wanders an empty forest.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Lorgar Heresy (Alternate Heresy) [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846669</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Let me know if i should try to keep going with this. This has not been beta read, but beta reading is welcome!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A man who could not die found himself walking through a forest of stone. The quartz and amber spires and arches danced around him under a beating red sun. The light illuminated the red-bark rocks, and reflected an array of light off of the petrified veins of the tall stalks. Careful to not waste air, he rationed himself a gasp of air for the awe. An homage of breath for a memory. For a moment the Soldier could remember walking through a forest. It was not something he was aware that would make him sentimental. By the necessity of his life he always chose to live one day at a time for sanity’s sake, and when he did allow a memory to pass through he usually brought through all of his emotions rather than merely the positive. He was in every forest he had ever walked.</p><p> </p><p>The scenery blends together, Ollanius Pius the Legionary is deep in a cold swampy Moor. His frostbitten fingers clutch a damp wool cloak, hoping to hide the gleam of his armor from the bogs filled with painted savages. </p><p>The Soldier looked again. Clutching a descendent of these savages in his arms, Ollanius Pius the Messenger was running through the thick unending temperate woodland filled with painted savages. He hears a noise and reaches for his Flintlock. He feels the Plasma pistol at his side.</p><p>To his left, the Soldier sees a dried valley filled with sedimentary rock. Ollanius Pius the Chaplain is sitting on a steaming river bank. Flanked with the descendants of old savages he stands under the steaming leech and mosquito filled canopy. A book is his hand as he speaks to the foliage hoping to cut through to the painted savages. </p><p>Now Ollanius Pius the Anointer is on his knees in a burnt-out forest. The flames have died and now he is tending the dead, Digging through the soft ash and cracked dirt he watches for the looting painted savages who hid among the stumps. Ollanius blinks, the forest is stone once more.</p><p>Ever forward, he had campaigned. Always towards some glorious end, but there were always continents, planets, and systems filled with indulgent planets glutting their soil and space for arcologies of savage creatures and violent paranoid plants. His life had seen many forests, and many savages. </p><p>Experience told him he should be careful. However he knew this was foolish. </p><p> </p><p>There were no savages anymore. </p><p> </p><p>The galaxy couldn’t afford idyllic forest dwellers anymore than it could afford forests. Stepping on a branch that cleaved into perfectly flat segments, drove off the memories, reminding him of how little his past memories helped him. Once humanity struggled to contemplate and grasp its entirety, but The Music of The Spheres in which The Divine ordered the universe was now too complicated, too luxurious for the survivalist military minds. In the face of the devourer the natural harmonies were ripped apart, and cut into simple military ballads. Only these petrified forests reminded of a time when nature wasn’t quantified in biomass, and that's even if anyone could recognize it. </p><p>“Would any of the children of men recognize this” he thought to himself as he trudged through the crystalline branches </p><p>“or would they see it as just another rock formation?”</p><p> </p><p>The old soldier's thoughts froze with his body as he saw a monstrous figure off in the distance. The silhouette he recognized as resembling the spawn of The Great Devourer, a termagant as it was once called. The tail balanced the figure as its body sat perpendicular to its four legs. The two arms peered through the caked ground. It seemed to be searching, smelling maybe. For what it was smelling, the soldier did know, but the way its head jumped up, he could assume it found him instead. The creature’s body stood up, taking a more bipedal form. It turned, and now recognizing the soldier excitedly ran towards him. Unsure how to react, the soldier turned to face the approaching creature. Its form becomes more clear. The biological armor of the creature changed from the greys and browns that blended into the surface into more vibrant purple and fuschias. As it moved closer the creature extended its sharp talon hands up and began to shout. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh’lanyus!'' the creature roared.</p><p> </p><p>The old soldier steadied himself, and prepared for the embrace.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s good to see you too, Kata.”</p><p> </p><p>Ollanius said to the child who had locked him in her arms.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span> He searched the face of the beaming creature. She, like all the children of The Hydra, carried the outward traces of the devourers. The creature did not need a mask as he did, The Hydra’s children did not need machines to adapt to dead worlds as he did.  Her skin was coated in plates of organic armor, and thick scales. The feel of her arms was cold and solid, to the point of being almost metallic or stone-like. No heat would be wasted on a sense of warmth. But as he searched the face,  among all of the monstrous features: the abundance of fangs, horns, antennae, and scales, there was still the soul of a child buried under all of that mental and physical armor. Traces of their humanity, a gift from The Starfather, could also be seen up close as well. The bioarmor of a termagant methodically and deliberately chipped, stripped manicured and engraved upon. A sorts of little markings and attached trinkets that exposed the armor of a mindless beast. Betraying that underneath was a soul struggling to make itself known to the world, and find its place, no matter how hostile it was. In his millenia of tending to humanity and her wayward descendants, Kata was the first of the Hydra that he had approached, and who had shown humanity that he had not seen before. Thus in a sense in Kata he saw his past failures, of all the souls lost and ignored that haunted him. But perhaps also his purpose for remaining.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had perhaps expected this moment of quiet to last a little longer, but it was less than a brief moment. Kata quickly broke the silence, with a barrage of questions. He had perhaps expected that this moment would have gone longer, but he should have known better. The Children of the Hydra were people of efficiency and activity.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on, I have to show you something.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her claws now pressed into Olanius’ hand as he was dragged back towards the hill that the creature stood on. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why were you staring at these rocks? Do they remind you of something? Come on! We have plenty of rocks at the base! Are there rocks like this on other planets too? Anyways, Hurry! Guess what I found??”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kata relished the past shared between herself and The Old Soldier. Her name given by the Hivelord was one the ancient figure could never hope to pronounce, but Kata was the name he had given her. Most of Kata’s short life was spent on this planet. She and the others like her were to wither away the swarms of the devourer. It was an endless stream of campaigns to fight back the swarm, followed by scavenging the planet for biomass, and nonbiomass,. Resources to rebuild the traps, killing fields and fortifications the planet was in need for. She knew the Hydra queen and the Starfather made her, but she had never seen them. Nor did she know why they were sent to protect this planet. She also knew that there were other planets like this with other people. Olanius told her so, but she had never seen them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Olanius was a strange creature she could never have imagined. A wobbly, scrawny thing with a squishy texture. His armor was not a part of him, and didn’t suit him. The Red that covered his silhouette was also not a part of him, creating a color she had not seen before in the world, it reminded her of a sky laced with promethium weapons. He told her of his travels from throughout time and across the galaxy means that he had taught Kata all sorts of wonderful and interesting things. She, like many of her squad relished the stories he would tell, except this time it was different. Now she had a story for The Great Ollanius Pius.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Being mindful not to pull it from his socket, she dragged his arm towards a stone grey hilltop. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have to see it, Lanyus'' she said in broken high gothic. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She stumbled to use the words Ollanus had taught her, as her tongue desperately attempted to form the words. Eventually she gave up and just spoke in her own language, which fortunately The Soldier knew but could never hope to speak. The tongues and voice boxes of these creatures were, like everything else about them built for dozens of military and survival purposes first. Eloquent language was hardly a priority in this world and it was a wonder that they could speak anything at all. Ollanius suspected that was the Starfather’s doing, salvaging what little humanity and aesthetics he could in creations of pure utility. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As they ascended the hill, the ground became softer, and steeper. Olanius put a hand towards the side of what was beginning to resemble a cliff face. And upon closer inspection, it became clearer why. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nature abhors a straight line, as it used to be said, and in patches along the side of the cliff, there were rock formations of perfectly straight lines. As Olanius put his hands to the side he could feel the worn surfaces of what felt like cut rock. Rockcrete perhaps? Kata continued her explanation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We were just digging around, after the devourers from Kronos came here. Don’t worry! We beat them back! I think you were there last time they came right?” There was a part of Olanius that was concerned about her nonchalance regarding a brutal conflict, when he came last to this planet the conflict with Hive Fleet Kronus was an ceaseless struggle for survival. He quickly stifled that thought; this was her world, it was what she was built for. If she noticed his look of concern, she didn’t show it, but just continued speaking as they moved closer to the hill.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wasn’t too bad, just scorched the sky and set up some kill troughs. Oh and we used those drone Templates you gave us - They were super helpful thank you! - Anyways Clem made some changes to them, and they were even better. You should have seen it! The Swarm was attacking us, then they were attacking the drones, and then they tried to eat the drones! But the stupid swarms can’t digest metal! It was great! Anyways, we were doing all the harvesting, and there was this Kronos ship that crashed into this mountain. Which we got all of the biomass from. That's how I grew all this new armor. But the best part was what it left! It was just a corner, at first, but me and Veqra and Bauw; we started digging on our own time. I think they are still there, let’s go! Hurry!” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As they finally reached the summit of the hill the hill revealed itself to be the rim of a massive crater rim, and the corner expanded into a sprawling complex. Some remnants of what was once the mountain, clung to the building. Kata finally let go of the soldier's arm when she caught sight of the two figures walking on top of the outline of the building. Once they acknowledged the greeting, she ran towards them. Ollanius did not race after her, instead electing to adjust his respirator, and walk at a more economic pace. There was no rush, the keen senses had already picked up the scent of ollanius and were expecting him.</p><p>They approached the square skeleton of the now roofless featureless building in the midst of the vast crater. There Veqra and Bauw were walking along the rim of the building. Upon seeing Kata and the red figure, they immediately jumped down from the not inconsiderable height. While they were excited to see Olanius, their shyness spared him being charged by the two sizable hydrasons. While both were familiar with Olanius, their more segmented chiton headplates revealed they were clearly younger than Kata. Veqra in particular only had a single headplate on her forehead. Her armor too betrayed her youth. Unlike the robost, and decorated layered bio armor of Kata and Buav, Veqra’s was still soft and unadorned. The rest of her kind Ollanius had met in various stages of their developed life but veqra he had met when she was barely a hatchling deployed to this planet from the hive. </p><p>Kata darted towards the building as though she was after something specific. Buaw shyly kept his distance from the strange biped. Veqra on the other hand kept inching closer to the man in red, then followed him around as he walked around the building. Veqra was in her “duckling” stage where she would follow the elders around everywhere they went. Olanius’s eyes searched around at the building, and then at the curious faces of the three hydras. “So what did you find?”</p><p>Bauw stood up taller, and placed his hands on his first pair of legs. “We don't know. Kata said you could tell us. I told Kata we were going to break it, because buildings are supposed to be underground. But she said you told her buildings used to be above ground.”<br/>Kata turned to Olanius to defend herself. “That’s what you said, Lanyus, remember? You said that long ago the Starfather, and his father lived in large bunkers like these. But you said they weren’t called bunkers, they were called…” Kata’s voice trailed off while she tried to remember the word. She dropped the subject lest she lose control of the conversation. “Anyways, I figured it was one of those, and you could tell us what it was.” <br/>Veqra took this as a chance to speak, “Palaz! I think it's The Goldfather’s Palaz. Look how big and tall it is! I bet The Goldfather lived on the top, and his soldiers lived on these lower sections.” </p><p>“That’s stupid!” Kata interrupted Veqra’s mind building. “This isn’t The Goldfathers! The Goldfather lived on Tear-ah, remember? Long ago, back when all humans looked like Lanyus they lived on Tear-ah. He wouldn’t be here!”</p><p>Veqra offered a concession. “Well maybe we are close to Tear-ah.” The Goldfather probably had lots and lots of palaz. Maybe this is one that is just near Tear-ah. Are we near Tear-ah Lanyus?”</p><p>Olanius collected his thoughts as inspected the building. It was so sparse, so little was left, it really could have been anything. The old soldier looked around the hillside and building and was amazed by its immaculate barrenness. If Kata was telling the truth about the ship, and she never had a reason to lie, there was certainly no trace of it. The Biomass of that Razerfiend was a fortune in the only resource that truly mattered -Biomass.  Every single molecule was likely scrubbed clean by the resourceful Hydra. There wouldn’t be a trace, because that would be wasteful. Even the scorchmarks of an energy weapon is carbon to be reprocessed. Kata was clearly proud of their victory, as she should. Every ounce of biomass recovered from battle starves the devourers. All across the galaxy, the survivors of the milky way were hoping to leave the hives a little more hungry. And from a thousand starvations, they might hope for something more than attrition: victory. </p><p>Looking at the eager faces hunting him for an answer, he tried to give a measured response. “No we aren’t near Terra. Terra has been lost for nearly six thousand years. But…” In the corner of his eye he caught the disappointment in Veqra’s face. “The Emperor of Mankind had many palaces and fortifications all over the galaxy.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Kata jumped up excitedly turning to Veqra as she moved up to a fallen pillar. Maybe this is one he built when The Goldfather first fought the Starfather. Don't you remember Bauw, Lanyus told us ! Long ago, Goldfather had 20 sons. The Starfather and his brothers fought against The Goldfather for hundreds of years. It could have been here!” </p><p>Veqra looked away from Ollanius and turned to Kata, clearly never hearing this story, “The Starfather fought Goldfather? What happened?”</p><p>Kata continued. “Twenty thousand years ago, The Goldfather made 20 Hives to conquer the galaxy and help rule his Swarm. There was the Starfather, but there were others too. But Goldfather liked The Blueone best. Starfather gave Goldfather a gift, but he liked The Blue Hive Better he turned the gift away.”<br/>“Then what happened?” Veqra asked.<br/>“The Starfather was so hurt by The Goldfather, he went away to the Eye of the Galaxy. There he found magic beings, that gave him special powers.”</p><p>“But Starfather already has magic powers.” Bauw responded.</p><p>Kata, clearly irritated by the interruption, corrected him. “Nuh-uh. He didn’t have magic yet. Only Goldfather had magic, and he wouldn’t share.” </p><p>Veqra’s pincers shot up in excitement, and turned to The Soldier. “Is that how he became Starfather.” <br/>Olanius shrugged. It was close enough, he responded with a simple yes. <br/>Kata continued her story, her gestures becoming more sweeping as she stood on the rock to tell the story. “Yes, so the magic beings gave him special powers, and some of the other Brood Queens together to fight against Goldfather.”</p><p>Veqra interjected again, “Why did they dislike The Goldfather? Did he turn down their gifts too?”</p><p>Bauw spoke matter-of-factly to Veqra: “She already said that, it was because Goldfather wouldn’t share magic with them.” Veqra turned to Olanius for confirmation. <br/>“That’s a story for another time,” Ollanius said to the youngest warrior, then pointing to Kata, “But it's rude to not let someone tell their story.” </p><p>”he got some of the other brood queens to start his own swarm.”<br/>the hives had the greatest war the galaxy had ever seen.”<br/>Standing on top of her podium of a collapsed wall, Kata began to weave her tale of great battles. Of hive fleets meeting between the Starfather and the Goldfather. Of swarms of hardened warriors of the 20 sons who fought each other for control of the swarm. And of the Victory of The Starfather.<br/>Ollanius used the moment to steal a glance at the building, which the three had come to agree was where The Starfather  must have prepared his army to attack terra. There were barely any markings that could designate its origins and purpose. Though off in the corner, he managed to find one. The collapsed wall upon which Kata stood on for narrative purposes were covered by markings. While weathered and worn, it appeared to be an emboss once overlaid with Gold or some other metal lettering. The words were in High Gothic: Ligeta Administratum Recycling Center.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Happy Orthodox Christmas/Catholic Epiphany. Let me know if you would like me to keep going with this story, or if there were any things I should elaborate on.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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